Section: Business Insider (USA)
Ukraine prisoner swap announced under battered truce
Donetsk (Ukraine) (AFP) – Pro-Russian rebels said they will swap prisoners with the Ukrainian side Saturday as part of a battered truce that the West hopes will cool a deadly conflict that has poisoned relations with Moscow.”Today (Saturday) there will be an exchange between us and the Ukrainian side,” said the rebels’...
West looks impotent as Ukraine ceasefire frays: analysts
Paris (AFP) – The continued fighting in eastern Ukraine has made a mockery of the West’s latest attempts to negotiate a ceasefire but may ultimately pave the way for a more durable peace, say analysts.It did not take long for the latest truce, brokered by France and Germany and signed in the Belarussian capital Minsk last week, to...
Moody’s downgrades Russia debt to ‘junk’ level
Washington (AFP) – Moody’s cut Russia’s debt rating by one notch into ‘junk’ territory Friday, saying the Ukraine crisis and the fall in oil prices and the ruble will further undermine Russia’s economy.Just over one month since its last downgrade of Moscow’s credit rating, Moody’s said Russia...
Russia cut to ‘junk’ by Moody’s (RSX)
Moody’s has cut its rating on Russia to “junk,” and says Russia’s economy is headed for a “deep” recession in 2015. In a release late Friday, the ratings agency downgraded Russia’s sovereign debt rating to Ba1/Not Prime (NP) from Baa3/Prime-3 (P-3). The rating outlook is negative. For Moody’s, any...
Until 2013, 10% of the US’ electricity came from disassembled Russian nuclear warheads
Relations between the US and Russia are as bad as they’ve been since the end of the Cold War. But until 2013, the two countries collaborated on a largely unknown diplomatic, political, and trade initiative that eliminated 500 tons of weapons-grade uranium while providing 7 trillion kilowatt hours of electricity in the US. The Megatons to...
Putin: Russia’s military strength is unmatchable
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday other countries should not think they can attain military superiority over Russia, Interfax reported. “No one should have the illusion that they can gain military superiority over Russia, put any kind of pressure on it. We will always have an adequate answer for any such adventures,”...
There has been a dramatic decline in the size and capability of the UK’s armed forces
New data from the Ministry of Defence show that the UK’s armed forces are in a long-term decline. Despite Britain being one of only four NATO member countries that spend more than 2% of GDP on defence, that figure has been creeping downwards over recent years. Successive governments have sought to remodel the UK’s armed forces away...
Rebels pledge prisoner exchange as Ukraine ceasefire teeters
Kiev (AFP) – Pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine promised Friday to start exchanging prisoners, in a possible boost to a ceasefire that the US accuses separatists of repeatedly violating.A rebel official for human rights, Daria Morozova, said an initial exchange of prisoners with the Ukrainian side would take place on Saturday, the Interfax news...
How WhatsApp’s billionaire CEO spent the year after the $19 billion Facebook acquisition
It’s been exactly one year since Facebook acquired mobile messaging company WhatsApp for $19 billion. The groundbreaking deal made both of the app’s cofounders billionaires. Originally from Kiev, Ukraine, CEO Jan Koum moved with his family to the US when he was 16 years old. The family struggled and lived on welfare and food stamps....
The Russian-backed siege of a crucial Ukrainian town sounds insane
On February 18, despite a two day old ceasefire, Russian-backed separatists overran an approximate force of 8,000 Ukrainian soldiers in the strategically critical town of Debaltseve. Deblatseve, a crucial railway hub allowed Ukraine to ferry its troops to the frontline, was nearly entirely surrounded by separatist troops by the time the Minsk 2...
